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MID-VALLEY HEALTH Albany Democrat-Herald ■ Corvallis Gazette-Times
Sunday, March 23, 2014
HEALTH STAT Quick reads about health topics in the news
Drugs at odds About three out of four older Americans have multiple chronic health conditions, and more than 20 percent of them are being treated with drugs that work at odds with each other – the medication being used for one condition can actually make the other condition worse. This approach of treating conditions “one at a time” even if the treatments might conflict with one another is common in medicine, experts say, in part because little information exists to guide practitioners. One of the first studies to examine the prevalence of this issue, however, found that 22.6 percent of study participants received at least one medication that could worsen a coexisting condition. The work was done by researchers in Connecticut and Oregon, and published in PLOS One. “Many physicians are aware of these concerns but there isn’t much information available on what to do about it,” said David Lee, an assistant professor in the Oregon State University/Oregon Health & Science University College of Pharmacy.
Joyce Marshall/Fort Worth Star-Telegram/MCT
From left, Brenna Hill, Bobbie Wilburn, 79, and Barrie Page Hill are shown March 15 in Arlington, Texas. Wilburn has Alzheimer's disease and now lives with the Hills.
Oregon State University
BLOOD MEMORY
Back on the roster High-level college football players frequently return to the field after an ACL reconstruction, according to research presented last week at the American Orthopaedic Society for Sports Medicine. Among the factors that affected return to play, the study found, are player standing on rosters and year in school. “Our data shows that about 82 percent of Division 1 NCAA football players return after ACL surgery, with that percentage reaching up to 94 percent when we focus on players who were starters before being injured,” said lead author Dr. Jimmy Hoshang Daruwalla from Emory University. “Athletes who rarely saw playing time returned about 73 percent of the time, while those who saw at least some playing time returned at a rate of about 88 percent.” The study used data from 13 institutions in major football conferences, including the Pac-12. “Our research shows that returning from a major knee injury and surgery is definitely possible,” Daruwilla said. American Orthopaedic Society for Sports Medicine
Healthier concessions Foods sold at concession stands at high school events typically don’t follow standard nutrition guidelines because they’re sold for fundraising purposes. But a new study suggests that making healthful choices available at concession stands doesn’t need to impact the bottom line. In a study published in the Journal of Public Health, Dr. Helena Laroche of the University of Iowa and researchers from Cornell University identified two strategies for improving the nutritional quality of foods sold at concession stands: First, offer five to 10 healthy food options. Second, modify the ingredients of popular items to contain less saturated and trans fats. Revenue and sales data from the concessions at Muscatine (Iowa) High School were collected for two fall seasons. In the second season, eight new healthier foods were offered and healthier ingredients were found for the nacho cheese sauce and popcorn. The healthier items accounted for 9.2 percent of total sales. Income also increased by 4 percent. Cornell University
Heart compassion Physicians telling parents that their children have congenital heart disease need to do a better job of showing compassion, ensuring parents understand all their options and providing easily understandable information, according to a study published in the February edition of the journal Pediatric Cardiology. Researchers at Los Angeles Biomedical Research Institute worked with the California Heart Connection, a nonprofit organization of parents of children with congenital heart disease, to conduct an online survey of 841 parents of children who were either diagnosed before birth or shortly afterward with congenital heart disease. “Parents confronted with a diagnosis of congenital heart disease face very difficult choices – from selecting a treatment to determining whether to continue a pregnancy, if they receive the diagnosis prenatally,” said Dr. Ruey-Kang Chang, a researcher and the corresponding author of the study. Most of the parents surveyed said they received no information on support groups, Internet resources or success rates at other hospitals. Los Angeles Biomedical Research Institute
Researchers may have found a simple Alzheimer’s test BY SUSAN SCHROCK FORT WORTH STAR-TELEGRAM (MCT)
ARLINGTON, Texas — wice in six months, Bobbie Wilburn walked home from the grocery store because her car had been stolen. It hadn’t. She just couldn’t remember where she parked. Those incidents and others in an escalating series of memory lapses and questionable judgment calls led the family to take away Wilburn’s car keys, disconnect her oven and stove, and eventually decide that she could no longer live alone safely, said her daughter Barrie Page Hill of Arlington, Texas. Wilburn, 79, who was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease about six years ago, now lives with Hill’s family and requires constant care. “It was excruciating for us. I’ve always seen my mom as the lady who could do anything,” Hill said. “It’s a horrible, horrible disease. I hate what it’s done to my mom. I hate what it’s done to my family.” Though Wilburn has coherent days, Hill called the disease a “time bomb” ticking away in her mother’s brain. “This is a long-term illness that she will have for the rest of her life. It would be tremendous if they could find a cure for this,” Hill said. There is no known cure. But researchers, including those at the University of North Texas Health Science Center in Fort Worth, are developing blood tests designed to help doctors more quickly detect Alzheimer’s disease, dementia and mild cognitive impairment such as Parkinson’s disease. Advance detection helps patients begin taking better care of themselves, researchers say, and such breakthroughs will boost efforts to develop medications to delay or even reverse the effects of Alzheimer’s. “In the Alzheimer’s world, we don’t detect the disease until it’s pretty advanced. If someone is clinically diagnosable with Alzheimer’s, it has been going on for years,” said Sid O’Bryant, interim director of the Institute for Aging and Alzheimer’s Disease Research at the health science center. “We need to be able to detect it earlier and earlier so we can create new ways to prevent the disease itself and do early treatment so we can be most
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Alzheimer’s or other mild cogeffective in treating our panitive problems and found that tients.” 10 specific lipids were at lower An estimated half-million levels than normal, possibly an Americans each year are affected by Alzheimer’s, a degen- early signal that the disease has erative brain disease, which re- begun breaking down brain cells, according an article about searchers believe is surpassed the study on the University of only by heart disease and canRochester Medical Center webcer as the leading cause of death in the United States, ac- site. “The ability to identify indicording to a study published viduals who are at risk of dethis month. veloping Alzheimer’s before the “It robs patients of their clinical manifestation of cognimemories. I find that particutive impairment has long been larly disturbing,” said O’Bryant, whose grandmother a holy grail of the neuromedicine community,” said Dr. Mark died with Alzheimer’s. “Our memories are intimately linked Mapstone, a neuropsychologist to who we are. It slowly erodes at the University of Rochester away the person himself. ... To- School of Medicine and Denward the end of the disease, it’s tistry, and lead author of the study. “Current efforts to denot the same person. That velop a treatment for this distakes a huge toll on families.” ease are coming up short beAlzheimer’s research is decades behind cardiovascular cause they are probably being used too late. Biomarkers that and cancer research, and new can allow us to intervene early medications haven’t hit the in the course of market in years, the disease some neurolo“WE DON’T DETECT could be a gists say, partly gamebecause of the THE DISEASE UNTIL difficulty in diIT’S PRETTY ADVANCED.” changer.” While neuagnosing rologists say a patents and enSID O’BRYANT predictive rolling them in INSTITUTE FOR AGING blood test for clinical trials AND ALZHEIMER’S Alzheimer’s early enough to DISEASE RESEARCH won’t be availtest the effecable to the tiveness of new public anytime soon, it could medications and treatments, help researchers identify atresearchers say. risk candidates for clinical tri“It’s been a decade since als. we’ve had a new medication “This is a good step to say come available so we can treat that this might be used to identhe disease. It’s very frustrattify someone at higher risk that ing,” said Dr. Kevin Conner, neurologist and medical direc- we might enroll in therapy or give medication,” said Dr. tor at Texas Health Arlington Diana Kerwin, director of Texas Memorial’s Stroke Center. New blood tests may change Alzheimer’s and Memory Disorders and chief of geriatrics at all that one day. Texas Health Presbyterian In a study published in NaHospital Dallas. ture Medicine this month, reKerwin and O’Bryant both searchers made international caution that the Rochester headlines after unveiling a study population was small and first-of-its-kind blood test that the researchers’ work they say can predict with 90 needs to be replicated by other percent accuracy whether a laboratories. healthy person will develop “This is a solid first step but Alzheimer’s within two to three it’s still a first step and a lot of years. The test is based on whether the person has lowered work remains to be done,” levels of particular fatty lipids. O’Bryant said. The goal is for the test to beIn the Rochester Aging come standard, like cholesterol Study, launched in 2007, the screening, for people over 65 researchers collected blood who go in for their annual samples from more than 500 physical, O’Bryant said. healthy people older than 70. A simple blood test would be Five years later, they further examined the samples from the more objective and effective than relying on patients to bring people who had developed
up memory concerns on their own or count on primary-care physicians to ask about them specifically, O’Bryant said “When you consider the average length of time (for an annual exam) is 18 minutes, even brief cognitive assessments are difficult to fit into that,” O’Bryant said. “At the annual exam, when people are getting their normal blood work, this blood test can be added to it. It doesn’t change the physician’s or the patient’s time.” Even if the predictive test were available in a doctor’s office today, Hill said, she isn’t sure she would want to know whether she faces the same disease as her mother. “For some families, it might be helpful to know what is up ahead. Do I want to know right now? Honestly, probably not,” said Hill, who also has a daughter in college. “I’m dealing with all I can deal with. I’m caring for my mom. I wouldn’t want to worry about me.” But knowing about a risk could help someone decide to eat better, exercise and address other health issues, such as diabetes, to fight the effects of Alzheimer’s, she said. “If people could prepare, then maybe this study is incredible for us. If you can take preventive measures and stave off the inevitability, that is key,” Hill said. An estimated 5.1 million Americans have Alzheimer’s disease, according to the National Institute on Aging. In 2010, the average annual cost to care for an elderly person with dementia was projected at $41,000 to $56,000. The changes Hill and her family have made include switching from full-time work to part time, moving into a larger home and hiring assistants to help with her mother’s care. “I understand from research, we’re about to reach some epidemic proportions,” Hill said. “As baby boomers age, we are seeing more and more cases and more cases of early onset. That is troubling to me. “The cost and effort associated with caring for someone with Alzheimer’s is astronomical,” she said. “It’s physically demanding but the challenges emotionally and mentally are draining, too.”
America’s over-100 crowd is seeing a boom THE SACRAMENTO BEE (MCT)
SACRAMENTO, Calif. — After celebrating his 100th birthday in Sacramento, Calif., with friends and family, Lou Weintraub headed to sea for a 10-day cruise with his wife. “You should have seen the number of older people on the cruise,” said Weintraub, who retired from work as a nonprofit executive in 1979. “They weren’t older than you,” said his wife, Roz Levy-Weintraub, 82, who still works selling real estate. “But they looked older,” said Weintraub. As a centenarian, Weintraub is part of a
significant moment: the nation’s rapid demographic shift into very old age. According to the 2010 U.S. census, America is home to the world’s largest population of centenarians, more than 53,300 people 100 years old and older. That number represents an astonishing 66 percent increase over the nation’s centenarians in 1980. During the same time, the country’s total population grew by 36 percent. And California leads the way with the oldest of the old: In 2010, according to the census, the state was home to 5,921 centenari-
ans, or more than one-tenth of the nation’s total population 100 years old and older. Celebrating a 100th birthday — that special milestone for centenarians and their loved ones — is becoming statistically commonplace. “We’ve seen life expectancy make considerable gains in the past 100 years,” said Joe Rodrigues, long-term care ombudsman for the California Department of Aging. “We used to say the fastest-growing segment of our oldest adults was 85 and older. Today, it’s 100 and older.”